Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen — Restaurant in Fullerton

Extremely Disappointed with Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen

I have over 25 years of experience in the Food and Beverage industry as a Director of Food and Beverage, and I have dined at more restaurants than I can count. I typically do not write bad reviews unless I am truly aggravated, and this place aggravated me enough to make an exception.

Where do I even begin?

Let us start with the seating. The chairs are made entirely of wood with no cushions, making them very uncomfortable to sit on. The tables are wobbly and unstable, clearly lacking sturdy legs. Comfort should be a priority in any restaurant because it encourages guests to stay longer and spend more. The only logical explanation I can think of for this setup is that they want customers to rush through their meal and leave.

Now onto the food. While the ingredients seem fresh, the flavor is severely lacking. Their curries are made with a yogurt base, which results in an unpleasantly sour taste. In all my years of dining at Indian and Pakistani restaurants, I have seen cream or sour cream bases used but not straight yogurt. I simply cannot understand this choice unless their customer base somehow enjoys overwhelmingly sour food. For four people, our bill came out to 150 dollars, which was absolutely not worth it given the quality and taste.

Let me also make something clear. Money is not an issue for me. I always order without even looking at the price on the menu because I believe good food and good service are worth paying for. However, when I received my receipt, I felt completely taken advantage of. The way they price and charge for items, especially the drinks, makes it feel like they are robbing their customers.

Speaking of drinks, they serve Diet Coke in tiny 8 ounce glass bottles for 5 dollars each, and every refill is another 5 dollars. Who can drink just 8 ounces of soda with spicy food and feel satisfied? I honestly do not even know where they find these tiny bottles because you cannot buy them in regular stores. Instead of installing a soda dispenser with ice and offering refills, they chose this level of penny pinching which is beyond disappointing.

Oh and I almost forgot about the rice. Oh my God, the rice was clumped together and completely unedible. I mean, rice is supposed to be one of the easiest things to cook. How can you mess up rice? But they did, and it was not good to say the least. It was horrible.

I will not be returning to Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen and I cannot recommend it to others. It is a shame because they do offer halal food, which seems to be the only thing keeping them afloat. I sincerely hope they make some...

I have had indian food for 22 year especially because i have lived in the UK for years, my in laws are pakistani so i have a kind of sense of what is indian food about... i go to indian restaurants in Southall where the some of the best indian places are in the UK, and i have never come across such disappointing indian food before. I guess it is a good restaurant for those who dont know much about indian food, or perhaps other meals are better. Perhaps it is indian food revisited and adjusted to modern times, but it is clearly a failure.

Atmosphere: At best, it felt moroccan with warm terracota colors, a really modern feel, the plates were traditional but serving was with forks (traditional indian provides spoons, not forks). There was no indian feel to this decoration.

First: No pictures on the menu. No alcohol. I don't mean to get drunk, but i have never been to an indian restaurant without it. It would be fine if the drink menu was fancy enough to compensate for the lack of bubbly, but it clearly was not. Also,drinks on the menu were expensive and untasty. The lychee mimosa did not taste of lychee. May as well have a coke.

Second, the food: the menu is short of options you would traditionally find in an indian restaurant. Poppadoms are supposed to be light, fluffly, dry, and crispy. They were nothing like it. They were flat, oily, there were tons in the plate as if we were 10 of us, they were cut in 2 (you cannot do that usually with poppadoms if cooked well) and the chutneys lacked taste and texture, mostly too liquid. Then,I had the Byriani and the presentation was horrible. It came to the table looking like a UK pot pie with puff pastry on top. Underneath: a massive pot of rice with lots of bits of unseasoned chicken, not only did it look gross and not appetizing at all, but it was not tasting of Byriani at all. The rice was very spicy, which i appreciate, but it was not Biryani. The chicken was not tasty. No sauce, too dry, it was just like eating rice... for $19. I only ate 20% of my meal, it was so unappetizing and disappointing.

Third: the service. We were nicely greeted and quickly seated. The starter and the drinks came to us fast,but then they brought the main course to my friend and let me wait for mine. The minimum you can do is bring the 2 courses together,no?

Conclusion: i am not going back in there ever. It was very expensive for a disappointing and low-level customer experience. It didn't make me travel, it didn't enchant me, i came back home upset and hungry, it was a complete rip off, and anyone will do a better job getting the ingredients from the store and cooking it...

My husband and I visited this restaurant for our anniversary dinner. We had been here once before, a couple of years ago. My husband remembered not enjoying it, while I thought I had liked it—so we decided to give it another chance. Unfortunately, we left disappointed.

Ambiance: 4/5

The space is beautifully decorated and visually appealing. However, the acoustics make it quite loud; the high ceilings and lack of sound absorption meant that multiple lively tables overpowered our own conversation—even though we were seated right next to each other. While not ideal for a romantic dinner, the setting might suit larger groups looking for a festive environment.

Food:

Mango Lassi: 4/5 Good flavor with mango purée mixed in, but the portion size was small for the price.

Mango Margarita Mocktail: 3/5 Refreshing, but large chunks of mint kept clogging the straw, which was frustrating.

Goat Cheese Naan: 3/5 Texture was nice, but the flavor pairing didn’t quite land. The goat cheese’s tartness would have benefited from a creamier, sweeter sauce rather than another acidic note.

Shrimp Curry: 3/5 I had fond memories of this dish from a past visit, but this time it was underwhelming—bland, with shrimp slightly overcooked (tightly curled instead of tender).

Tandoori Chicken: 3/5 Serviceable but dry, with only average flavor.

Service: 2/5

This was the weakest part of the experience. After being seated, it took many minutes for our server to greet us. She was friendly when present, but often absent. My husband’s mango lassi arrived promptly, while I could see my mocktail sitting on the bar for over 10 minutes while another server stood right near it and eventually brought it.

Meal pacing was inconsistent. My husband’s tandoori chicken arrived significantly earlier than my shrimp curry. His rice was also missing, and when we asked another server, she promised to check but never returned. Later, rice was brought out with my curry—though it turned out to be his. The miscommunication could have been avoided if someone had clarified whether curry dishes automatically come with rice.

Throughout the meal, staff seemed disengaged or poorly coordinated. Even when leaving, no one at the door acknowledged us, and our server was sitting outside. We made the effort to say goodbye, but the lack of hospitality was noticeable.

Overall:

The restaurant delivers an attractive atmosphere, but the food felt uninspired and the service fell far short of expectations—especially for a place listed in the Michelin guide. While we remained polite, we left disappointed and do not...